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There has been some controversy regarding the 231E factory software update on the E9X M3. Claims have been made regarding BMW providing a more aggressive tune by some vendors who have been touting the new software as adding power which in our opinion is unsubstantiated and solely to make money. We recently came across this dyno of a car with the 231E software that was then tuned with VF-Engineering aftermarket software.

The way this setup works is someone purchases the OBD2 flashing kit from VF and then they are able to download tunes from their computer and flash their car themselves. A very trick setup indeed that eliminates one needing to send in their ECU although this will not be quite as aggressive as a custom dyno tune. Oh, and this will also work for supercharged cars and other modifications can be tuned for as well remotely.

On to the results. The baseline for the car (we do not know if it is manual or 6-speed and feel is quite low for a dynojet) is 324 wheel horsepower with the 231E software on 91 octane. After the tune, peak horsepower rises to 338 wheel horsepower for a gain of 14 at the wheels, solid.

What we see here is the 231E software did not provide a very strong baseline. Furthermore, aftermarket software will still easily outperform it even if it is a canned tune let alone a custom dyno tune. The 231E hype seems to be exactly that, just hype. Results and video below.

Cool to see more competition. I don't see how this shows 231E is hype vs. earlier BMW software such as 80 and 100E though. A tuner can lean out the fuel a touch, or make some other adjustments (as an example) to add power. How does that show that 231 isn't superior to previous versions of BMW OEM software?

Cool to see more competition. I don't see how this shows 231E is hype vs. earlier BMW software such as 80 and 100E though

It doesn't but it goes to show you can do a hell of a lot better than 231E. Additionally, if 231E is getting such supposedly large gains what would this baseline have been without it? I find it hard to believe it would be any lower.

It doesn't but it goes to show you can do a hell of a lot better than 231E. Additionally, if 231E is getting such supposedly large gains what would this baseline have been without it? I find it hard to believe it would be any lower.

Where is Sal when we need him? I bet he knows, but I bet it's a can of worms that isn't worth talking about in the dog-eat-dog world of bmw "tuning". : )